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Hill named Golfer of the Year; other players tab honors

Having been the most dominant golfer not only in the conference, but throughout most of Division II so far this season, it was no surprise that senior All-American Calum Hill was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Golfer

SILVER CITY — Having been the most dominant golfer not only in the conference, but throughout most of Division II so far this season, it was no surprise that senior All-American Calum Hill was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Golfer of the Year.

Senior All-American Thomas Neve joined Hill on the First-Team, while junior All-American Harry Wetton and senior Deryk “Buzz” Perales landed on the Second-Team.

It has been a year to remember for Hill. This marks the second straight season in which he has been named the Golfer of the Year and in addition to that, he was also tabbed as the Academic Golfer of the Year last season as well and is in line for that same award this season. He collected a pair of RMAC Golfer of the Week awards and concluded the RMAC slate in style dominating the field to win by five-strokes at the RMAC Championships, posting a new career-high for lowest 36-hole score of 136 with rounds of 69 and 67 to end up eight-under par. If that wasn’t enough, his 200 54-hole score was the best for a Mustang in the past 20 years. He set new low round scores of 65 and 66 at that same tournament when he won the St. Edward’s Invitational by eight-strokes. His 72.20 scoring average is on pace to set a new Mustang career low round for a single season. He has fired 13 rounds below par, has six top-10 finishes, five in the top-five and two wins. He has a 660-189 (77.7) winning percentage and leads the team in not only that category, but in scoring average, lowest round, lowest 54-hole score and lowest 36-hole score. With his latest victory, he climbed all the way up to 25th in the latest Golfstat rankings.

For Neve, this gives him two straight season being named to the All-RMAC First-Team. He has also done well in the classroom landing on the All-RMAC Academic First-Team last year and could easily land on that same list again this season. Neve is second on the team to Hill with a 73.67 scoring average, has a 54-hole low score of 215 and a 36-hole low score of 143. He has two top-1o finishes this season and one in the top-five. His low round of 66 came at the Price’s Give ‘Em Five which is also when he set his best 54-hole mark of 215. His low 36-hole score occurred at the WNMU Fall Intercollegiate. His top-five finish was at the RMAC South Invitational placing fourth out of 80 golfers. His 74.7 (634-215) winning percentage is good for second on the team and he has nine rounds under-par this year. He is ranked 109th in the latest Golfstat rankings.

Wetton was an All-RMAC First-Team honoree last year. Just like Hill and Neve, he has done well on the academic side being named to the All-RMAC Academic First-Team last year and could also be on that same list this year. He is second to Hill on the team with a 54-hole score of 211 and a 36-hole tally of 142. His 54-hole low score came at the Mustang Intercollegiate where he also tied for ninth. His top 36-hole score was at the WNMU Fall Intercollegiate which tied him for 10th. His low round of 68 was at the St. Edward’s Invitational. He is tied with Neve posting nine rounds under-par and he has three top-10 results this year. His win-loss percentage is also in the 70 percent rank clocking in at 72.6 (616-233) and he has a 73.72 scoring average. Wetton is ranked 123 in the latest Golfstat rankings.

Perales played in 16 rounds this season compiling a 74.94 scoring average, four rounds under-par and one top-10 finish. He posted a 54-hole low score of 217 and a 146 low score on 36-holes. Just like the other three, he is above .500 in the win-loss average going 278-191 (59.3). His low round of 70 came at the WNMU fall Intercollegiate, he also carded his 36-hole low score there as well. His top 54-hole tally came at the Price’s Give ‘Em Five and his top finish of tying for 10th was at the Edward Jones Cactus Thaw! Perales landed on the All-RMAC Second-Team last year as well.

The Mustangs, ranked third in the latest South Central Regional rankings, will wait to see if they receive an at-large bid to the Super Regional field with the selection show this Friday at 4 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. The top-10 teams from the South Central and West Regions comprise the Super Regional that will take place May 1-4 at the NMSU Golf Course in Las Cruces hosted by WNMU.

From The USA TODAY NETWORK

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